Another week is down! Down to 12 weeks until I run 26.2 miles in San Diego!
Last week was a very long week, again! I did break the $1,000 mark for fundraising! Not all the money is noted on my site currently because I got checks in the mail. Thank you to everyone who has sent me money--I promise the thank you notes are on their way, I just haven't had much time to myself! I still have a long way to go by way of fundraising, but I have to be optimistic!
Which is the same attitude I have to have in relation to my running. Tuesday here in Washington was absolutely beautiful. Hit up near 70 degrees and everyone was outside running. Thursday was nearly the same; however, there were rain showers in the evening. When I left work, it was pouring ran, by the time I got home, the rain stopped so I put on my running clothes and got out of the house as soon as possible to try to beat the next downpour. With a mile left, it began to pour. I felt so hardcore.
Then there was Saturday morning. I was greeted at my 6am wake up call to cold and rain. Not exactly the kind of weather that makes you leap out of bed at the crack of dawn on Saturday to go do a long run. Kerry came to pick me up at 6:45 and we were both not in the best of spirits. We arrived at the site of our long run and sat in the car until the last possible moment, trying to stay warm. Suprisingly, crappy weather and all, we had a great turnout for the run. As we were waiting to start the run, the staff handed out Team In Training hats to those of us who had raised $500 dollars. This changed the mood of the Team completely. So, with my new hat on, we made our way out onto the trail---that is, AFTER they told us that we would be running for no more than an hour and a half on a trail that was constant hills. GREAT! At least I got my new hat....My pace group led the pack on the killer trail of rolling hills. We ran at a good 8:45 pace, which is no easy feat when there was really no break in the action. It was so inspiring to see all of us out there, tackling this trail on a miserable, grey morning. At two different points, we were running in torrential downpour and everyone kept shouting 'Go Team!'. During the second downpour, we were headed up another steep hill and I started to sing the Rocky Theme song outloud--anything to keep us going! There was never a lull in the spirits of the Team. Our coaches were out there with us, giving us tips on the proper ways to go up and down the hills--"SHORTER STRIDES!....LET THE GRAVITY PULL YOU DOWN!!...BOUNCE ON THE BALLS OF YOUR FEET!"...All of the coaches are absolutely amazing. Coach Tina is this tiny ball of energy. You can be in the worst mood of life, and then you see her and you forget your worries. She has so much enthusiasm and love for this organization and her team, it's hard to hate that you are up at 6 am and spending your Saturday morning with her. Coach Chip is a former Army man. Last week, he was talking about his fastest mile. Upon our amazement at how fast he was, he said, well you would be surprised at how fast you can run with 30 pounds of gear on your back and you hear the clipping of someone setting a rifle up to shoot you. I nearly wet my pants. That was until he told the story of running the San Diego marathon. He had a previous miniscus (totally don't know how to spell that word and im too tired to look it up) problems in his knee that came back to haunt him around mile 17. He was resolved that his race was over, let his friend go ahead and he began to walk. At mile 20, there was a beer stand on the side for the crowds, so he got two beers, to which, magically his knee felt better and he went on and finished the marathon. Chip, you are my hero.
Soooo, my group did not run for the full hour and a half bcs everyone in my pace group was running in an 8k the next day, so we ended up running only about 7 miles. Following the run, we had our Honored Teammate Picnic inside the high school next to the trail we ran. It was a fun time to spend with our teammates, and then we listened to our honored teammates--those leukemia survivors and patients. In addition to our honored teammates, we heard from our fellow teammates and their stories of why they were running and who they were running for. It was amazing to be surrounded by so many people touched by this disease. I would also like to point out, that 3 of the stories told, were by people who ran with TEAM In Training once before and had no relationship to leaukemia or lymphomal; however, following their participation, had been affected by the cancer. This is what I try to tell people. You never know. The point is to raise money to help those with the cancer and to prevent anyone from having it ever again. We heard about the loss of children, the loss of parents, the survival and continuous battle of our honored teammates, and one of my fellow marathoners, the wife of one of the coaches, who for the first time openly spoke about her 11 year battle with leukemia. She has never had treatment and the doctors and convinced it is the running that keeps her going--and she said that she will not stop running until there is a cure. I have never seen a husband and wife so in love-her husband, one of our coaches, just held her hand the whole time, looking at her with teh most reassuring eyes, as this woman admitted her sickness to her teammates--if she can run with leukemia, I can run with my clean bill of health. And I will raise money for her and all the other amazing individuals I heard from that day. The survivors called US the heroes-and in turn I call my donors heroes because it is the money from the donors that make this all possible. Some of the people in the room that morning could not stress enough that their doctor's were funded by Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and it was the funds from Team in Training that funded the drugs that are the reason they are alive today. How AWESOME is that?
Being a part of Team in Training I honestly can not put into words what an amazing experience it has been. I feel like I've known my teammates forever. Someone on Saturday morning, one of the triathaletes, described it as a family, and I could not say it any better myself. It is an emotion that I can properly do justice and I wish that everyone I knew could experience. I know that if everyone I knew were in the room with me on Saturday, no questions asked, would be shelling out the money for me. I can't even stress to you how awesome and honored and blessed I am that I decided to be a part of this team.
But anyways, that was Saturday. Then SUNDAY. oh man. Sunday Kerry and I had signed up for the St. Patty's Day 8k down on Pennsylvania Ave. We went down Sunday morning, wearing our Green Beer Taste Testers shirts, and Irish beads at 7:30am Sunday. Waiting for the race to start was the COLDEST experience of my life. I shivered off my Special K bar in no time and was convinced that if I were on the Titanic, I would have been the first to die. Kerry and I even almost left the wind chill was so bad. We stuck it out though and ran the race at an 8:33 pace. It was the worst experience. The course was terribly laid out and the people in DC running the race were just LAME. In fact, I am so over how terrible that race was, that I don't even want to write about it. Just never do the St. Patty's Day race in DC. Leave that type of a race for the NY/NJ folks who know how to properly worship that holiday.
Please check out my page and donate to this amazing cause!:http://www.active.com/donate/tntnca04/tntncaSNess
Next week, 12 miles!
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